Wednesday, February 01, 2006

Mediations on 1 John 1:1-4 "So That Our Joy May Be Complete"

1That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life-- 2the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us-- 3that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. 4And we are writing these things so that our[a] joy may be complete. - 1John 1:1-4

1. John proclaims the message of Christ (the Gospel) because of his experience with Christ.

1That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life (Jesus Christ)-- 2the life (Jesus Christ) was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life. (v.1-2)

Even though John experienced fellowship with Christ physically, and we haven't, we can still deeply experienced the presence of Christ through the Holy Spirit (1 Peter 1:8 Gal. 2:20, 2 Corinthians 4:6). And may it be that it's because we (FPC) haven't experienced Christ, that is why we are slow to proclaim Him?

2. John's proclamation of Christ (the Gospel) is aimed to produce a fellowship with the church, God and Jesus Christ.

3that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ

It's important to note that John's proclamation of the gospel wasn't just for the sake of forgiveness of sins or in order to get someone into some spiritual realm called "heaven", but so that the person may have fellowship with other Christians (the church). The implication of this verse is that we should evangelize with the aim to incorporate people to a local church, and not let them be some "individual Christian", who's not committed or a baptized member of a local church.

The second thing to note, is that John's goal of fellowship is that it includes a fellowship with God, the Father, and Jesus Christ. Therefore, we should structure our church fellowship with the knowledge and the message that we are not just a bunch of Asian gathered together to play football or eat together, but that the real attraction and beauty of our fellowship is that includes the living God and Jesus Christ.

3. John's proclaims the message of Christ to seek a holy and divine fellowship with others in order to complete his joy.

4And we are writing these things so that our[a] joy may be complete

The question for us (FPC) is "do we feel some kind of unhappiness because we are not evangelizing and bring other to a fellowship with the living God through a local church?".

No comments: